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Ha, Ha, Ha! We Are Rich, And Own Your Football Team!
I have a saying about being a sports fan that is useful to remember when times are bad with your particular team.
Coaches and players come and go. Owners are ‘til death!
Which is to say, you better damn well hope your particular team is owned by somebody with a clue, and a willingness to spend some cash.
Of course, spending such cash poorly is as much a curse – if not more so – than not spending at all. This is the counter-intuitive argument I make to Redskin fans all the time who want to at least defend Dan Snyder’s penchant for splurging on players.
Snyder’s free-spending has wrecked as many versions of the Redskins in 9 years of ownership, than it has really helped the team. And that’s true whether he spends on overpaid, over-the-hill free agents, or supposedly young and “hot” free agents. It’s also true when it comes to spending on sexy coaches.
The spending Dan Snyder has engaged in, has only created a culture of “get my money!” around Redskin Park that is embodied in the entire tenure here of one Clinton Portis. Clinton laughed giddily at his first ever presser about how he wanted to get some Dan Snyder money.
And boy, has he ever!
Third! Behind Kraft and Jones? Get outta here.
You can read Silver’s rationale in this article. He definitely takes a pro-player perspective on it all, which is understandable since Silver is essentially a “party journalist.” He loves to hang with players, drink with players, and do all his work from the “inside” of various entourages.
And hey, good for him. While I think his take on Snyder is nuts, I did very much enjoy all the other well researched nuggets and opinions on the various turds that own NFL teams. Some exerpts….
32. Jacksonville Jaguars – Wayne Weaver: It was bad enough when moaned his way into hosting a Super Bowl, citing the need to help to finance renovations to a stadium in which he would later cover up nearly 10,000 seats to give the team a prayer of selling out on Sundays.
31. Oakland Raiders – Al Davis: Equally perplexing was the way he caved and gave a fair-market contract to No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell last September after the season had started, when the quarterback’s rookie year was essentially a washout. The Raiders, since their Super Bowl XXXVII defeat to the Bucs, are 19-61 over the past five seasons, the NFL’s worst record during that span. But in Davis’s distorted world, it’s always somebody else’s fault.
27. Buffalo Bills – Ralph Wilson: A few months shy of his 90th birthday, Wilson should be in a celebratory mood. Largely because of his bitching, moaning and general grumpiness, Wilson was essentially handed the keys to a monster market, in the form of a deal to play eight games in Toronto over the next five years – one which guarantees his franchise $78 million. “We’ll see if the guy stops whining and complaining now,” one owner says. “Toronto, if you put it in the U.S., would be the fourth-largest city. If Jerry Jones staked a claim to Mexico City, or Robert Kraft did it with Montreal, or Paul Allen wanted to play one game a year in Vancouver, we’d never approve it. Ralph was given a special accommodation because we’re sick of hearing him cry about being in a small market.”
21. Atlanta Falcons – Arthur Blank: I’d like to believe that Blank, having served as the NFL’s most shameless enabler (for Michael Vick), has snapped out of his adulatory haze and will now become the star he has always had the potential to be. I’d also like to believe that the hiring of former Patriots scouting director Tom Dimitroff as general manager was a shrewd move. But I’m skeptical, not because I doubt Dimitroff’s ability to succeed, but because of the way the whole thing played out: After being embarrassingly spurned by Parcells, Blank extended an offer to Dimitroff without having ever met him in person (the job interview was conducted via video conference) and retained Rich McKay – the man Dimitroff was replacing – in the role of team president.
All in all, good stuff Mr. Silver. The players and coaches will cycle through, it’ll take the grim reaper however in some cities to truly change their football fortunes for the better.
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What Would Irv Have Said?
Hi Steve:
When Bob brought up the other day the things may have been different with Brett had Irv been around, I really got to thinking. Since Holmgren, and likely Wolf departed, and his dad died, Favre has had no one to really fear. Next up, Ray Rhodes and Mike Sherman, who let him run wild. Since he didn't have accountability, he could become more of a diva with no one to bring him down to earth. By the time Thompson and McCarthy came along and weren't willing to let Brett walk all over the team, he had been unaccountable for long enough that he couldn't handle it and resented it. Hurt feelings resulted from him having to answer to someone for a change, and from fewer special "Brett rules".
I am very curious how he handles Mangini, whom I have been told by a Jets fan is hated by the players. And, wait till Mike Lupica shreds him by mid-October. Read the NY press, they are building him up and up, and they will love tearing him down.
See ya, donkey,
Terry Rindt
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To the city of Buffalo, the Bills owner and their fans...small market? Two words for you Green Bay. Nuff said.
Having a clue is just as essential element of good ownership as spending cash. Take the Redskins - the Squire had cash aplenty, and the good sense to let football people make operational and personnel decisions. Under the Squire, the Redskins were a perennial force to be reckoned with (5 NFC championship games in 10 seasons, with 4 wins, and 4 Super Bowls, with 3 wins).
The Belt Buckle Kid has cash and no clue. He is no more competent to make operational and personnel decisions at the NFL level than I am. But I know it. He should open his check book, shut his pie-hole and get the hell out of the way.
Dan Snyder #3? Please.
I wouldn't want this guy anywhere NEAR the ownership of my favorite team, the Steelers.
He makes money because he does everything up getting paid thugs to hold fans by the ankles while they shake them up and down.
Worst stadium in the NFL. I know, he didn't build it, but he does everything in his power to make it even worse.
Just a pants load of a guy to boot. I hope I never have to see this clown celebrate a Super Bowl, what a complete ass.
Living in DC though, I do like how he makes the Redskins interesting. Their enraged fans make for great entertainment on Sports Talk Radio.
You want bad?
Try my beloved 49ers. Taking the team from her brother Eddie, Denise DeBartolo puts the franchise in the hands of her husband, John York. Eddie won 5 Super Bowls, Denise has won last place in the NFC West about as many times...
Worst thing is they had a chance to sell the team to Larry Ellison, he just happens to be owner and CEO of a little company called Oracle!!!
Guy could of built a stadium in his backyard! But no, the Yorks didn't want to sell.
What the hell?
You want bad?
Try my beloved 49ers. Taking the team from her brother Eddie, Denise DeBartolo puts the franchise in the hands of her husband, John York. Eddie won 5 Super Bowls, Denise has won last place in the NFC West about as many times...
Worst thing is they had a chance to sell the team to Larry Ellison, he just happens to be owner and CEO of a little company called Oracle!!!
Guy could of built a stadium in his backyard! But no, the Yorks didn't want to sell.
What the hell?
The Cardinals. How could they not be tied with Al Davis (the only way those two franchises can win anything is a who sucks the most contest).
Let me see...
Poor draft choices? check
Years of not spending money? check
Move a team out of a city? Check
Players use the team to get more money elsewhere? check
Appoint son to run team who has no experience? check
Not paint the 42 yard line to honor Pat Tillman? Check
Complain about playing in a college stadium then get checkmated into naming rights for University of Phoenix? Check and mate.
Czabe,
I thought the exact same thing when I read the rankings. I think Silver did a pretty good job with rest of them but his logic went out the window with Snyder. No way should he be higher than about 28th. He rapes the fans every single chance he gets. I am surprised he does not build a roof on the stadium, suck out all the air and start selling oxygen masks. How did Robert Kraft end up at #1 (a ranking he deserves) if the major criterion for ranking Danny Boy #3 is that he splurges on players? Kraft never over pays and often under pays market value (see: T. Brady) but guys want to play for a winner (at least until they get a ring, then they bolt for $$$). The revolving door of coordinators and head coaches has never allowed any continuity to take hold and the squandered draft picks both on draft day with crummy picks and those traded for overrated players put this guy in a class by himself. In fact, I would challenge any defender to name a SINGLE right move he has made in 9 years.
I think Silver ranked the Belt Buckle Kid that high because he wants to take Czabe's spot on the Sports Reporters.
Seattle at 13? Um...
"[Allen] dips into his vast fortune to give the Seahawks every chance to succeed, hiring savvy executives like CEO Tod Leiweke and general manager Tim Ruskell and largely staying out of their way."
Oh how awful! We would much rather have an owner that thinks he knows more than his GM and head coach.